BATROVCI: Hundreds of truck drivers began blockading freight border crossings across several Balkan countries on Monday, demanding changes to the European Union visa system that restricts their time in the bloc.

Dozens of goods checkpoints in Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia were being targeted as part of a coordinated effort by trucking unions that could last up to a week.

“You are punishing, deporting and causing damage to the entire European economy,” Nedjo Mandic from the Association of Transport Operators of Serbia said of officials enforcing EU travel rules.

He was speaking at Batrovci, a major border checkpoint with EU-member Croatia.

By shortly after noon, a line of lorries stretched back hundreds of metres had built up on the Serbian side of the border.

Mandic said similar scenes were unfolding at almost all EU borders with the Western Balkans.

Since October, the EU has started rolling out its long-delayed entry/exit system (EES) at borders around the 27-nation bloc.

The scheme aims to end the use of passport stamps and digitise visitor registration.

Although the limit on staying in the EU is not new, the electronic EES system will mean more rigorous enforcement of a 90-day limit every 180 days for non-EU citizens.

That would make long-haul trucking from the Balkans “unsustainable”, Mandic said.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2026